Secrecy
by Harmony's Whispers
Summary: Ryoma gained two snake pets when he rescued them on a snowy mountain. The snakes were somehow very clingy and wouldn't let go, so Ryoma had no choice but to take care of them. All was well until his snakes had another new motive and wanted to be his lover. Normally, that is impossible, but we're talking about demon snakes here, so the possibilities are endless. RyoFujiYuki
1. Chapter 1

It was rather sudden and unexpected when Ryoma first gain two pets -without his parents' content- secretly and he was still thinking of a way to announce this to them. He wasn't sure how his parents would react and he did get quite attach to his pets, so he needed to plan everything carefully in order to achieve the results that he wanted. It all happened one day when he had traveled with his parents to a snowy mountain for skiing during the vacation.

Ryoma was off adventuring and exploring this new favorite hobby of his and he slid down the white slope. Ryoma, since young, was a fast learner and was able to master practically anything in a short span of time. Of course, skiing became one of them with no time at all. Tennis, of course, will always be his favorite sport and it will always be on Ryoma's mind. However, sometimes, Ryoma was in the mood for a change of air and want to try something he normally wouldn't do in order to find what his passions are outside of tennis.

His mother, along with his cousin Nanako, nagged him nonstop about being too obsessed with tennis and would spend his entire day on training, completely forgetting his daily task to eat. Tennis was what made him become too unfocused on what the current time is after all, and Rinko deemed tennis as something unnecessary in Ryoma's life. She decided that her son needed to try something different and this moment can be used to relax his mind and body. A change of scenery can serve as a positive thing and her family needs some family-bonding activity to boot. Moreover, too much of exercise was never a positive thing and Rinko was afraid that tennis would one day ruin Ryoma. In her opinion, tennis was dangerous due to various players using a dangerous play style and love to watch their opponents suffer in pain. That was one of the reason why she opposed her son to play the sport competitively, which may sounds too selfish, and it was enough that her husband was into this sport.

She sighed and feels that it was all worth it when it seems that at least Ryoma was enjoying skiing. It was worth all the pulling and persuasion the past week, trying to get Ryoma to agree to her plan. In addition, since her occupation is a lawyer, she is very good with her words and therefore, can be very persuasive. But in her son's case, her talent is basically useless. She had to use her mother card at the end to get what she wanted.

After she felt somewhat reassured about her son, she then scanned the snowy plain, looking for her idiotic husband. Where did Nanjiroh run off to? Suspicions rose in her chest and she felt that what she'll go through later is something she had experienced multiple times.

 _That Nanjiroh couldn't do something indecent again... right?_

Rinko knew she couldn't trust that perverted monk, so she went to search for him, her mind momentarily stopped revolving around Ryoma.

Ryoma, on the other hand, kept skiing down the hill, going faster and faster each passing second. It was extremely fun and exciting at the same time. It was also quite nice as well. The cold and chilly breeze would graze past his cheeks as he traveled downwards, but at least the rest of his body didn't suffer the same fate. His cheeks were flush red from the cold and whenever he let out his breath, he can actually see it under this extremely freezing temperature.

Using his ski poles, Ryoma stick both poles into the deep snow, which serves as a break and ultimately, stopping the ride as well.

Ryoma take his ski goggles off, sliding them on top of his head. He looked around the area, which were devoid of the human population. There are only few animals lurking around.

"... Where am I?" He said after moments of silence. He looked behind, which was where he came from originally, but the falling snow made it too blurry for him to see anything, even with his sharp eyes. He soon gave up.

After reaching a conclusion, Ryoma decided to explore around and might as well see if he can take refuge somewhere for the time being. He couldn't possibly stay outside in the snow for long, could he?

Minutes later, Ryoma hate to admit but he was lost. Completely lost. Not only there wasn't any people around, which means Ryoma couldn't even seek for help, but the temperature was decreasing rapidly and his thick jacket, scarf, and boots couldn't help shield Ryoma from the cold entirely.

He shivered uncontrollably and he placed his hands enveloped with gloves on his face to help it regain back its warmth.

Ryoma walked on further. There must be somewhere where he can use as a shelter in this barren field.

He held onto this hope and continued moving. If he stay still, he'll freeze at a faster rate.

He stopped when he saw something on the ground that wasn't clear white from the precipitation. And he saw it twitched for a second. However, snow was soon piling upon this "object", completely covering the entire thing.

Somewhat curious, Ryoma shoveled closer and the snow crunched under his feet with each step he take.

He glanced closer at the pile of snow. Where was the thing?

Ah, there it was.

He reached over and pushed away the snow and uncovered a... brown snake.

Ryoma blinked in surprise. That was certainly unexpected. But at a closer look, the snake's tail was tangled with another tail and Ryoma concluded that it was another snake.

He quickly tried to help the other snake. Now there was two snakes: one brown, the other blue.

Ryoma wasn't quite sure what he should do at the moment. Should he just abandon these snakes and move on since he wasn't in a good situation to begin with, so there was no way he can aid someone else. But then again, these snakes looked like they were on the verge of death and kept shivering and wiggling, desperately trying to keep warm and stay alive. Even without seeing it, Ryoma can tell that the snakes' heart beat was slowing down and will completely stop if no help was offered soon.

He contemplated his options and decided to help these snakes. Maybe he can leave them in a refuge he'll settle in later?

He grabbed the two snakes, keeping in mind to not handle them roughly and harshly. The snakes squirmed and looked like they want to attack Ryoma, hissing weakly all the while.

Ryoma held the snakes away from his body once his natural instinct kicked in, in case the snakes were poisonous. "I don't want to harm you and just want to help. I promise I'll let you go once I found a place safe for you."

The snakes soon stopped struggling as if they understand Ryoma's words, which obviously couldn't be true.

Oh well, at least it made it easier for Ryoma.

Luck was on them when a cottage was in Ryoma's sight.

"Finally..."

Hurriedly, he ran to the cottage as fast as he can through the snow and quickly opened the door, closing it after.

"Safe!" He placed the snakes down and scram to find something he can use. He did find some matches and luckily, there were some wood in the hearth, so Ryoma quickly swipe the match across the surface and it was lit up. He then threw it into the wood and soon, a large fire was formed.

Ryoma take off his coat and boots, placing them near the fire to dry. He glanced at the snakes and saw them still shivering.

He felt bad despite the fact that he didn't cause it. He moved the snakes closer to the fire. "Feel better?"

The snakes of course didn't respond, which was expected.

Ryoma sighed. How long will he stay here? He really want to go back home.

After sitting there for awhile, he grabbed his coat and spread it on the floor, wrapping himself with it as he go to sleep. Today was a tiring day after all.

* * *

"Please, find my son! Please!" Rinko begged as she grabbed onto the workers, who was in charge of rescuing people that was lost in this snowy mountain.

"Of course, ma'am. Don't worry."

They tried to reassure her, but no words can persuade Rinko that her son was safe until she saw Ryoma safe and sound right infront of her. She knew that Ryoma wasn't that good with directions, since chances are, he wouldn't be able to get back here. That said, Rinko needs to rely on these people in hopes of finding her precious son.

She desperately wanted to find Ryoma herself, but right now the snow is getting thicker and thicker, making traveling more difficult as it is. With the strong wind blowing the snow, it was extremely challenging to be able to see anything and so Rinko has no chances of navigating her way around.

Rinko gripped her hair in frustration. Just how long will she be tortured like this? Just how long can she see her son once more?

All these thoughts took over Rinko's mind as tears flow uncontrollably down her chin.

"Rinko..." Nanjiroh said, reaching for her wife.

Rinko shake her head. Even her husband couldn't do anything to make her feel better.

* * *

Ryoma stirred as he felt something cold touch his skin. He turned his head to the side and wrapped his coat tighter around his slim body.

However, he still felt the coldness surrounding his body and so he opened an eye to see what was the cause of this coldness.

It was totally astonishing to see two snakes slithering into his sweater, with their heads poking out from the sweater, and their eyes directly in contact with Ryoma's.

"What...?"

The snakes continued to move around and eventually wrapped themselves around Ryoma's neck. For a second, Ryoma thought that the snakes will suffocate him but apparently, that wasn't the case. The snakes seemed content on where they were located and Ryoma was totally fine with it if not for the fact that it is getting itchy with the snakes' scales rubbing against his skin. He tried to control the urge to scratch his neck.

Ryoma looked down at the snakes and hesitantly touched their heads. After making sure that the snakes wouldn't attack him for this "disrespect", Ryoma continued to pet them as if right in front of him was his cat Karupin. Speaking of Karupin, he was starting to miss his beloved cat and was wondering if Karupin also misses her owner as well.

"Karupin..."

* * *

Ryoma strained his ears once again to make sure he wasn't imagining the voices of people. He walked to the window and rubbed the glass to make the condensed water disappear.

And there he saw it. There was a bunch of people, all carrying flashlights and were yelling Ryoma's name loudly.

Ryoma opened the cottage's door screaming, "I'm here!"

That was how he was rescued. The people make sure Ryoma was in a good condition with no injuries nor illness and they kindly asked Ryoma to get his belongings so they can immediately depart and head back to the hotel where the rest of the guests were located, including Ryoma's parents.

Ryoma went back to get his coat when he noticed that the two snakes were missing. He looked every nook and cranny in the cottage and still couldn't find the snakes.

"Hurry up, kid!" One of the people said, impatience present in his voice.

Hurriedly, Ryoma put on his coat and on his way, he glanced back at the cottage for one last time.

After the tear some reunion with his parents, Ryoma was finally released and was able to go back to his room.

He sat on his bed with a huff and his mind traveled back to the snakes.

 _Where did they go?_

* * *

Few days later, the Echizen family went back to their house, away from the snowy mountain. And the family probably wouldn't go back to any snowy mountains for awhile; they had enough of seeing snow and experiencing heart attacks due to the Ryoma's disappearance again.

The first thing that Ryoma do as soon as he get back home was to take a bath. He always love taking baths for several reasons and he really need to relax after the whole ordeal. He shed his clothing and sink into the lukewarm water once the tub was filled almost entirely.

He leaned back and closed his eyes, planning to sit there and do nothing.

"... Paradise..." Ryoma murmured as he dump his head in the water and shake his head to wet his hair.

Once he was finished, he tilted his head to dump the water that entered his ear when he was underwater. Finally, Ryoma can hear the sounds clearly again.

Thump.

Ryoma glanced at the door, eyebrows raised. What was that?

Thump.

"Karupin? Is that you?" Ryoma expected to hear his cat meowing in response, however, that didn't happen.

Thump.

Now Ryoma couldn't ignore whoever was making sounds using the door. He grabbed a towel and tied it around his waist, then opened the door.

There was no one there and Ryoma was very confused until he felt something touch his feet.

He looked down and lo and behold, the snakes were there; the exact same snakes he was looking for awhile back.

"Kami, where are you hiding the whole time?" The snakes only wiggle their body more as a response.

* * *

"Here, this will be your 'home' for now," Ryoma said as he placed his old clothes underneath his bed to make a nice, little nest for the snakes.

"Good night," and Ryoma shut the light.

In the darkness, the blue snake sent his thoughts toward his friend, _Ne, Syu, should we show Ryoma our human form? It's getting very boring how we couldn't speak to him in our snake form._

The brown snake shake his head, _Not yet Sei. Soon, we'll. For now, we'll have to wait patiently. Though I can't wait to see how he'll react once he knows that we are demons and not just regular snakes._

 _Yeah, can't wait indeed._


	2. Chapter 2

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* * *

This past week had been terrible in Ryoma opinion. It was extremely uncomfortable to find two snakes trying to sleep with him instead in their nest that was custom made for them - Ryoma had tried to make it as perfect as possible, but since he never had experience in making a suitable shelter for animals, his final product kind of sucks in total honesty - which is something Ryoma can tolerate because his cat always sleep with him, so what's the deal with two extra snakes? Not a big deal if you ask Ryoma. But the main problem was that the two snakes had tried to follow Ryoma when he was going to take a bath (more than seven times and still counting), secretly mind you, and acted like they're just curious and all.

And of course, that was bullshit and Ryoma had enough proof that the snakes do know what they are doing and in fact, can comprehend human language, which was weird but Ryoma didn't worry too much about. Humans are not the only intelligent species on Earth after all, so it wasn't totally unbelievable. His beloved Karupin was the perfect example of that fact.

He was concern about this because he wanted privacy when entering the bath, so that he can be alone and think properly. However, it was extremely unnerving to have two snakes watching his every move, even when he's just trying to wash in peace.

The first time this had happened had startled Ryoma so much that he almost let out a scream. He was just trying to strip his clothing when the snakes enter his view just like that, out of nowhere. He would have slip when he lost his balance, but thankfully, he grabbed onto the doorknob and prevented the fall.

"You guys don't belong here..." Ryoma muttered as he throw the snakes out gently (despite what they had done, Ryoma simply wasn't someone who would treat animals cruelly). "Next time don't follow me when I'm entering the bathroom, alright?"

The snakes just slithered away, ignoring what Ryoma said.

And after history had repeated itself for more than three times, Ryoma just doesn't bother repeating himself and just lock the door (though he always make sure that the snakes weren't being sneaky by hiding something in the bathroom beforehand).

And now Ryoma finally had some peace on hand where no one, humans and animals included, would bother him. His father, being the usual perverted monk, always bothered on, talking about when he'll get a girlfriend. Ryoma had first ignored him but once his father kept repeating the same question several times, Ryoma had a strong urge to retort back and said "I'm looking for a boyfriend, not a girlfriend," just so he can see his father looking very shocked and horrified. And then, his father wouldn't bring up the topic again. While that sounded absolutely pleasing, Ryoma highly doubt that his father would let this go without much trouble and would most likely persuade Ryoma to change his sexuality. Therefore, there'll be more problems in the future if Ryoma did actually say what was on his mind. It's best if he kept silent and hope this would be over soon.

Ryoma walked past his father with his school bag slung over his shoulder and left the house, making sure to lock it.

"Yo! Echizen!" His senpai greeted and waved. Momo flashed him a smile.

Ryoma hopped on Momo's bike and it was at that moment that he caught a whiff of a strong smell. He scrunched his nose in response. "Momo-senpai, did you put on cologne?"

"Huh?" He started and then realized what Ryoma was talking about, "How did you noticed this fast? Was it so obvious? I made sure to not put a lot on me..." Momo sniffed himself and finally realized that he put too much on him.

"Why are you wearing it?"

Momo laughed, "You see, today I'm going on a date with Ann-chan and so, you know, a man needs to dress up when the times comes."

"... Momo-senpai, you do know that you'll exercise later and the sweat will wash off the cologne on you. Also, since you'll be taking a shower, the smell will be completely disappear."

Momo's mouth dropped. "NANI! I didn't thought about that! Oh God, what should I do?" He stopped pedaling as his foot was used as a brake. And then he glanced at Ryoma, "Say, do you think Tezuka-buchou would have cologne on him?"

"Of course not. You might want to ask..." Ryoma stopped and think for a second. Who would have cologne in their club? The answer is no one. Why would tennis players need cologne? And also, since everyone was focused on training, no one would really give much thought on how they look like to others, well, safe for Momo that is.

"I'm doomed. Ann-chan would hate me for being too smelly. Our first date is officially ruined before it even begun," Momo said as he cursed himself for being so stupid.

Ryoma sweat dropped at his friend and senpai's reaction. "Just make sure to scrub extra hard during shower so she won't smell your sweat. And I highly doubt that she would hate you just because of that."

Momo clasped Ryoma's hands with his own. "Thanks, Echizen! That made me feel better! You're right; after practice, I'll take a 30 minutes shower and get rid off all the dirty and sweat on me, then Ann-chan wouldn't complain about anything, right?"

"... Just hurry up and pedal! We'll be late!" Ryoma for once was eager to arrive to school on time because he was getting tired of Momo being insecure and being overly dramatic. His best friend was like a completely different person when it involves his girlfriend.

* * *

Rinko stepped into Ryoma's room and began to do her daily chore: to clean her son's room and make sure that it was tidy and organized. Ryoma himself wasn't the type to organize his belongings, and Rinko couldn't blame him since he was so tired every day due to practice, therefore Rinko was in charge of cleaning his room whenever she has time for it. At times, she left his job to Nanako once she couldn't escape from work.

She first opened the window to let fresh air enter and then she get to work. She then placed the books on the desk in one pile and other materials in the other pile. During the whole time, she was humming a light tone as a means to get her in the mood to work. And once she was in that state, she can accomplish this task very quickly.

Lastly, she decided to clean the floor with a mop that she had bring with her from before. She first clean the area farthest from the door and then from there, she goes backward until she reach the door. But before that, she needed to clean the bed and so that was what she did.

She bend her back as she pushed the mop forward, reaching deep under the bed. She moved the mop back and forth, so she can get rid of the dust that had been collected under there.

Rinko repeated this routine until she heard of a sudden hiss and then she stopped moving. Was this her ears playing a trick on her? She decided to investigate this and walked closer toward the bed. She lifted the bed sheets and was about to stick her head under when suddenly Nanjiroh shouted.

"Rinko! Come here for a second!"

"I'm coming!" And so her quest to find out what's under the bed wasn't completed and she didn't remember to check it afterwards as well.

* * *

Ryoma tapped his racket against his shoulder as he walked towards the locker room, wanting to use the shower immediately. It was then he heard Eiji's loud voice, "Congratulations, Momo! Wow, your first date! What do you plan to do today?" He looked very excited on the idea as if he was the one going on a date instead of Momo.

Momo laughed nervously and scratched his head as a habit, "Uh, I'm planning to bring her to a mall to buy whatever she wants, and then bring her to a fast food restaurant to eat. After that, I guess, the date ends."

"Oh, I see, a shopping date, huh?" Eiji nudged Momo, grinning.

"Yeah, I couldn't think of anywhere else to go for our first date. I figure since this is our first one, we should spend our time somewhere simple and then later, we'll spend it at a three star restaurant or something." Momo slightly blushed at his own words. He was indirectly implying that he and Ann will go on more dates in the future.

"You'll be fine, Momo! As long as you thought about what Ann will like, you're good to go!" Eiji smiled and his thumb was raised.

"Thanks! Oh god, I can't wait until we meet later..."

Ryoma sighed as he overhear this conversation. Momo was still going on and on about his date, huh? What was the big deal about dates in the first place? He walked pass by them and changed his clothes, then getting in the shower.

* * *

"Tadaima," Ryoma greeted as he entered his house and take off his shoes. No one replied, probably because they are all out. Ryoma walked up the stairs, toward his room and placed his tennis bag by his bed. He poked his head under the bed, and saw his two snakes looking at him, with their body in a spiral shape.

"Hey," He reached in and the snakes latched themselves on his hands, slowly wrapping around his elbow. "How was your day, today?" The snakes' tongues lick his skin, which feels very ticklish.

"Was the food enough? Should I go buy more?" Since Ryoma haven't announce the presence of the snakes to his parents, he had to use his own allowance that he saved from past tournaments to buy snake food in the pet shop. He had done this secretly, when his parents are out, so they wouldn't question him for bringing snake food (which was mice and other small, dead rodents) in the house. In addition, Ryoma had been spraying freshener in his room to get rid of the smell.

The snakes shake their head and leaned their heads forward.

For some reason, the snakes weren't in their moods and Ryoma doesn't know what to do to cheer them up since they were the first snakes he ever encountered in his life. And so, he was quite lost on this matter.

"Would you like to take a bath?" His cat loved to take baths, though Ryoma always had to persuade her every day to do so, and so Ryoma figured that the same could be said for the snakes. In addition, they haven't clean themselves in a long time, so maybe playing in the water might lift their spirits up.

Without waiting for their reaction, Ryoma brought the snakes to the bathroom and turned on the bath water in the tub, making sure that it wasn't too hot nor too cold. He turned off the water once it reached an appropriate level and placed the snakes in.

Ryoma frowned when the reactions weren't what he expected: the snakes weren't moving at all and just sit there in the water. "What's wrong? Are you not feeling well?"

Ryoma continue to try to get a reaction out of the snakes, but it seems that nothing is working. Should he contact a veterinarian tomorrow?

"Hey, can you please..." Ryoma was cut off when he heard his father's loud voice, announcing his presence. His father kept shouting for Ryoma as his footsteps get louder and louder, toward his son's room.

"Oi brat! Come out of your room!" Ryoma rushed to the bathroom door and tried to lock it, but his father was one step faster than him. Nanjiroh opened the door, uncaring if his son was using the toilet or washing himself, but it seems that neither was the case, so all ends well.

Nanjiroh raised an eyebrow, "Why are you so nervous?"

"What are you saying, baka oyaji?! And what did I tell you about entering my room, especially my bathroom, without permission?"

"Oh, what's the big deal; you don't have anything that I don't have, so what's the harm? Anyway, I want to talk to you about something," Nanjiroh tried to walk in the bathroom, most likely wanting to sit on the toilet seat as he speak.

Ryoma blocked him, "Let's talk outside."

"Why?" Suspicions rise in Nanjiroh's chest and he had a good feeling that his son was hiding something. And suddenly a knowing smile appear on his face, "Ah, seishounen, it's okay! Show your daddy what porn mags you're hiding! I swear I won't tell a single soul!" And the perverted monk pushed Ryoma forward, in search for perverted material.

"Oyaji!"

"Where are you hiding it? Cabinets? Or..." His eyes landed on two snakes, who was also staring at him. And so a staring contest begins.

After a while, Nanjiroh finally decided to break the silence, "Ryoma, explain." Ryoma gulped in response.


	3. Chapter 3

Welcome to chapter three! I've decided to put my entire focus into this story instead of two at once, so updates should come around once a week.

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* * *

Ryoma lowered his head as he waited for Nanjiroh's reaction towards the sudden news of having two snakes in their house. He knew it was wrong of him to keep this secret from his parents, but he was trying to come up with a way to announce this news one day. It wasn't like he wouldn't share the news and keep it hidden forever.

He glanced up in hopes that his father would say something but Nanjiroh remain quiet. Instead, he was tapping his fingers against his lap. Ryoma hated when his father was unresponsive and normally that happens when his father was thinking something very seriously and that something is generally not a good thing. Usually, Nanjiroh was cheerful and loud and he was never someone to keep his feelings below the surface. But now he is quiet, and Ryoma knew that whatever his father would say, it would be something negative.

"Ryoma," Nanjiroh began at last. "This is very irresponsible of you and frankly, I'm very disappointed right now. Raising pets aren't such a simple task and you have so much things to consider when raising pets, not to say snakes. You yourself are busy every day with school and tennis, so how can you even take care of two animals with all that workload?!"

"I'm capable of taking care of a cat, so why not two snakes?" Ryoma said, trying to get his father to understand where he was coming from. He of course knew the consequences of his actions, but he was still willing to take care of the snakes. It wasn't like his family was poor or anything, so having two extra mouths to feed wouldn't impact their budget greatly.

"Why, you ask?! Ryoma, you picked them up out of nowhere and I'm sure you haven't run tests on them to make sure they aren't poisonous or carrying any diseases! What if one day they suddenly decided to attack you or even worse, try to eat you?!" With each words, Nanjiroh raised his voice. He fear for his son and his family's life. He was never fond of snakes, having being bitten by one in the past and therefore his experience with snakes made him reject the whole species. To him, snakes are frightening creatures and just couldn't get along with humans.

"You can't say that for sure! It is possible that they're not dangerous!"

Nanjiroh breathed in heavily, "Alright. We'll get them tested and if the doctor confirmed that they're poisonous, we'll sent the snakes to the pet shop or the zoo or wherever I can find, and by that point, nothing you say would change my mind." Nanjiroh stormed out the room, leaving his son behind.

Ryoma jumped onto the bed as his face was covered by his pillow. He gripped the bed sheet tightly and groaned in frustration.

Why was his father so against this?

* * *

"I'm home!" Rinko called out tiredly and take off her shoes. Today, work was very tiring and her boss wasn't making things easier for her too. Not only was the client difficult to handle, but her boss also nagged her nonstop, saying that it was her fault that things doesn't work well with the client. At the end, Rinko had to bear with a fussy client and a bossy boss and all in all, she barely had any energy left to even talk back to them.

She rubbed her neck and sighed. She doesn't feel like cooking today, but Nanako wasn't here, so she had to cook or else her family would starve. Both Nanjiroh and Ryoma couldn't cook for life.

Rinko glanced around the house and felt that something was off today. No one greeted her, yet there are shoes in the house indicating that no one left the house. So why wasn't anyone responding?

"Nanjiroh? Ryoma?" She decided to walk upstairs as she left her working bag on the couch nearby.

She knocked once on Ryoma's door as his was the closest toward the stairs.

Twice

Thrice.

Still no answer.

"Ryoma? Are you in there? I'm coming in!"

She opened the door... and no one is in there.

"That's weird..." And then faintly she heard the sound of a a ball hitting against the wall. "That child..." She shakes her head, "Always playing tennis. Now, let's see what's Nanjiroh up to."

* * *

Ryoma hit the ball forcefully against the wall, putting all his energy into it. He wants to vent his frustrations through tennis as this was the only means he can control his anger.

At times when he was extremely angry, he even wanted to throw his precious racket against the ground as if throwing something would make him feel better. Of course, before he will actually do that, Ryoma managed to control himself and stopped himself from inflicting damage on his rackets. These rackets were not only from expensive brands, but they were also gifts from his father, so it was definitely valuable to Ryoma. Rackets should be treated with care since without rackets, you can't play tennis. And being the tennis maniac, Ryoma just couldn't stop playing tennis.

Ryoma slumped against the wall once he ran out of energy, surrounded by countless tennis balls. He didn't bother to clean up his mess and just sat there until his mother called for him.

Tomorrow, he better hear the results he wanted to hear or else Ryoma would have to resort to drastic measure in order to keep the snakes. He might as well keep the snakes somewhere safe and secretly feed them whenever he can. Maybe in his locker for the tennis club?

* * *

The trip to the veterinarian wasn't a pleasant one. Nanjiroh still wasn't talking to Ryoma and vice versa. Rinko who heard of this news directly from her husband was also in this car ride. Just like her husband, she also wasn't fond of snakes, but if her son wants to keep them, then she would let him do as he wish.

She glanced at her husband, then at her son. Nanjiroh was focusing on driving while Ryoma just stared out the window. Rinko sighed. This tense atmosphere was driving her nuts.

But finally, the family of three arrived and entered the hospital. Ryoma was responsible for holding the snakes, not like he would let his parents do it.

"It's fine; I'm sure oyaji would let me keep you guys after it's confirmed that you two are not dangerous," Ryoma whispered to the snakes and held them close to his chest. Everything would be alright, or at least that was what he hoped for.

Ryoma gulped as he followed his parents.

After several minutes of examining the snakes, the veterinarian said, "These snakes aren't poisonous. Most venomous snakes have triangular heads and slit pupils, but some snakes like coral snakes does not belong to that category but is still poisonous. If you want to be extra safe, we can run a few more tests to see if there's poison in the liquid that the snakes' fangs make."

Nanjiroh nodded, "Please do."

Ryoma let out a sigh of relief once his parents and the doctor were out of his sight. Thank God. "Now oyaji can't take you guys away from me."

Meanwhile, Nanjiroh and Rinko followed the doctor but he suddenly stopped and turned to them. "I have a question, if you don't mind."

Rinko nodded, "Go ahead."

"Where did you obtain the snakes?"

"Well, our son found it on a mountain during our vacation," Rinko answered, though she wasn't exactly sure of the details. That's a story that only Ryoma can share.

"Well, you see, I never saw these kinds of snakes before, so I was wondering where they came from. I'm pretty sure I never saw it when I was reading through a book on all types of animals, including snakes," The doctor asked and after he tried to remember the information he memorized before, his answer still remain the same.

"Then... what do you suggest we do?"

The doctor shrugged, "Well, I could be wrong. My expertise lay in dogs not snakes, so I'm not that quite knowledgeable on this. If you want, I can give you some snake experts' phone numbers and you can contact them, and see what they came up with."

"Yes, that'll be extremely helpful."

* * *

The ride back was almost exactly the same as the ride toward the hospital. This time however, Nanjiroh was worrying over something totally different, well not very far off from his previous worry: if these snakes were an unknown species to modern science, then there wouldn't scientists who would know what these snakes can do, much less Nanjiroh. And therefore, he still wouldn't let the snakes stay in their house until this matter was resolved. He needs to make sure that everything is safe and that the snakes wouldn't dealt any damage to his family.

Tomorrow, he'll contact the snake experts and hopefully would receive an answer he would like.

Ryoma on the other hand, was very glad that the snake gets to stay. Even though they were quite quiet the past few days for some unknown reason (and the veterinarian wasn't able to tell him too, though he suggest that maybe the snakes were tired or just hungry) Ryoma still enjoy having the snakes by his side. Karupin was currently by Nanako's side since her parents wants to play with the cat, and so Ryoma was left with no companion by his side. Therefore, having the snakes by his side was reassuring.

Ryoma touched the snakes' skin gently and held them closer. Thank God that everything works well for him and the snakes.

* * *

It was soon nighttime and Ryoma had went to sleep after he place the snakes back into their nest. Ryoma was sleeping comfortably, but the same couldn't be said with the snakes. The said snakes were turning and turning, clearly in pain.

 _Sei, it hurts. It's suffocating!_ The brown snake said through telepathy as his tail jumped upwards, trying to stop the pain.

 _Yeah... but Syu, we need to bear with it..._ The blue snake hissed at the sudden strong wave of pain taking over his body.

Finally, the pain stopped but the two snakes knew that this is only the beginning. It seems like them staying in the human world was extremely unhealthy to their body. At this rate, they had to go back to their world and if this pain continues, the two would be in danger...

 _Sei, let's go ask Tezuka for help. He's been in the human world longer than us; I'm sure he can help us!_

 _But we don't even know where he is, how can we -ahhhh- ... seek help?_ The blue snake coiled his body together in order to lessen the pain. The pain started again when it just stopped minutes ago. It always gets worse during the night.

 _Let's go search for him; It's useless to sit around and not do anything to help our situation._

 _Then should we transform into our human form to find him? It's -oh God, ow...- easier that way..._

 _Yeah, it can't... be helped even though more of our limited energy will be used up._

The snakes slid out of the bed and gathered their remaining energy to transform into their human form. Their bodies grew larger and larger as their tails also shrink and eventually disappeared and in return, a pair of legs along with other human limbs grew.

The blue snake transformed into a handsome male with blue hair and eyes. He however, was naked and the moonlight from the window make it seems like he was glowing. The same could be said with the brown snake, but his hair was brown and his blue eyes were closed.

"Well then, let's go," Syu said and walked towards the window, preparing to open it.

"Wait!" Sei grabbed Syu's wrist. "We can't go out naked. Humans all wore clothing and with no doubt, it's abnormal for people to go out naked."

"But we don't have any clothes..."

"Let's borrow Ryoma's."

Syu nodded. The two did manage to find some clothes, but despite the fact that it was too small and extremely tight on them, the two jumped out the window.

They wandered around the city and tried to find Tezuka's scent. The two only met Tezuka once back when they're in their own world, so they are now relying on their memory on how Tezuka smells like. It was weird for them to smell through their nose instead of their tongue, so their senses were throwing them off. But they eventually get the hang of it.

After searching for two hours, they still couldn't find a trace of Tezuka's smell.

"Let's go back for now, Syu. We'll continue to look for him tomorrow," Sei said tiredly and Syu nodded as they head back home.

As soon as they entered Ryoma's room via the window, they immediately lay on the floor and went to sleep, hoping that at least this night they would be able to sleep without being awaken by any pain.


	4. Chapter 4

Replies to Guest:

Guest: Chapter 4's here!

Sorry for the late update! I was busy studying for my exams, but don't worry, starting from now on, I'll be more active on FanFiction! :)

* * *

Ryoma froze as he ponder the same question once more: what the heck is going on? The moment he wakes up and tried to use the restroom, he saw two strangers laying on _his_ floor wearing his clothes (since his first initial was stiched onto the clothing- it was his habit to mark his property in some way, for instance, his favorite hat has a letter R enclosed by a square).

Three options immediately entered his brain once his brain finally absorbed the information. One, Ryoma can call for his parents and seek help. Two, call the police and let the police take them away. Or three, do nothing: this is only a dream. Once he wakes up, everything will be normal.

He inhaled deeply. Okay, first, he shouldn't call his parents because he doesn't feel comfortable speaking to them at the moment right after their argument from the previous night. Also, who knows how his father would react and in the first place, seeking his advice was such a foolish thing to do. His mother, on the other hand, would react more strongly than he would and she would probably freak out, so it was best to keep this news away from his parents' ears. Second, at first glance, things aren't as bad as it seems. The two strangers haven't done anything except for sleeping, so for now, they aren't dangerous. But still... Ryoma couldn't comprehend why the strangers were wearing his clothes. Are they perverts? Ryoma's face turned slightly blue at that thought.

He gulped. Now the idea of calling a police were stronger than before. However, Ryoma pushed away that thought; he shouldn't be rash after all. For now, he'll keep an eye on them and then think about whether or not he should seek help.

And since the first and second option is out, that leaves the third option: go back to sleep. Ryoma nodded. Nice idea, he had to say. And in addition, it was still too early to wake up in his opinion. And since that was what he decided to do, Ryoma walked back to his bed and was about to flung the blankets over his body but he suddenly stopped.

He glanced back at the strangers.

 _'But first',_ Ryoma thought _, 'I had to...'_

And so he advanced toward the strangers... with an evil grin on his face.

* * *

Syu was the first one to stir awake and the first thing he saw once he wakes up wasn't a pleasant sight. It wasn't the fact that he was laying on the floor with no blanket covering him, not like he needed one anyways, but the problem was that it felt suffocating to be bounded by a rope.

He doesn't know how this happened, but for sure, whoever do this to him wouldn't be let off easily.

Syu could use magic to get out, but he knew he couldn't afford to be reckless. Staying in the human world was already taking a toll on his body and if he used up more energy, then the outcome would be unimaginable and Syu wouldn't want to know what will happen. Some things are meant not to be known by others; sometimes knowing less is better than knowing more.

Syu tapped Sei's shoulder, _Sei, wake up! Sei!_

Using his foot, Syu kicked Sei and his last resort finally stir the bluenette awake.

 _Syuu, wha-?_

 _Sei, someone tied us up while we're resting. What should we do?_

 _Should we change back to our snake form?_

 _We can't, if we do that, we'll be more weaker than before!_ Syu shake his head violently. If they became weaker, they're no more than just regular humans with no power whatsoever. And at that point, anyone and everyone can attack them and they'll be defenseless, couldn't even fight back to the best of their abilities.

 _Then, let's see if this works..._ Sei bend down and opened his mouth. Then, using his teeth, he grabbed onto the rope around Syu's body and tried to break the rope.

 _This isn't working, Sei..._ Syu said after 10 minutes of Sei trying to help Syu.

"You guys aren't thinking of escaping are you?" Ryoma suddenly said. He was already awake when Syu was trying to wake Sei up. Because the two demons were too focused in their little world, they didn't notice Ryoma.

 _Ryoma..._ Sei thought.

"If you continued to resist, I'll call the police," Ryoma threatened. And then he thought of another great idea. "If you refuse to stop struggling, then I'll call my snakes and let them torture you. You wouldn't want that right?"

 _But we are the snakes..._ Sei thought.

 _Hahaha, I wonder how he'll react once he realize this..._

Ryoma, however, misunderstand and thought that the change of expression on the snakes' faces was fear. "I see that you guys understand the situation you're in. But, just in case..." He bend down and flipped open the bedsheet and saw... nothing.

Ryoma dived under the bed and double check. "Where are you guys?"

After few minutes of checking, Ryoma finally gave up and crawled back out. The snakes were grinning, clearly amused.

Ryoma coughed, "It seems that they decided to go hunting for food, so consider this as your lucky day. The same thing wouldn't happen next time."

 _Next time, he said... Is he implying that he'll tie us up again?_ Syu teased despite knowing that Ryoma doesn't mean this.

"Hey... why aren't you guys talking?" Ryoma felt uncomfortable at the silent treatment from the snakes and what makes him feel more uncomfortable was the creepy twin grins on their faces. Just why are they finding this amusing?

"Ah, sorry. We are just communicating with ourselves," Sei replied.

"Through what? Eye contact?"

"Something like that."

"Ne Ryoma, I'm Syusuke and this is Seiichi. And we're the snakes that you rescued on that snowy mountain," Syusuke said suddenly, bringing Ryoma and Seiichi's attention to him.

"Hah? Yeah right. If that's so, then I might as well say that pigs can fly," he rolled his eyes.

Syusuke knew that this will be Ryoma's response, so he wasn't affected by Ryoma's behavior. "If we can prove it to you, will you believe in us then?"

Ryoma waved a hand, "Go ahead. Let me see what magic trick you'll show me."

Syusuke turned to Seiichi and said, "I'll do it." Sei nodded, knowing that this was the only way to go.

After making sure that Ryoma was watching, Syusuke closed his eyes and slowly, his body starts to shrink and all his human limbs and organs were replaced by a snake's body parts.

Ryoma couldn't believe what he was seeing. "What in the world...?" Can magic tricks perform something like this? This was simply unbelievable.

Syusuke had already finished transforming and he and Seiichi were watching Ryoma, wanting to see what he'll do next. They know that it must been shocking to Ryoma, and so Sei used this chance to explain things in detail, just so that Ryoma will be able to believe in them more.

"We are actually demon snakes, able to transform into a snake and a human whenever we want," Seiichi began. "Before you found us, we... escaped our homeland and came to the human world to seek shelter and become free at the same time. However, since we aren't familiar with entering the demon realm to the human realm, we ended up landing on a mountain rather than a city or a place that humans occupy in. Knowing nothing about this world, we couldn't really make any move without knowing what the possible consequences of it, so we decided to try to survive on the mountain until the snow, hopefully, stopped. Things however, as you can probably infer, didn't work as well as we thought and not only was finding food difficult, but the snow also came falling down nonstop, and that leads us to a state of starvation and hunger."

"Why did you escape your homeland?" Ryoma asked as that was the only detail that doesn't sit well with him.

Seiichi looked down, "I'm sorry, we couldn't share that information as of yet..."

Ryoma sighed, "And what is your plan now?"

Seiichi smiled nervously, "We were hoping that you'll let us stay here in the meantime until we find a place that we can call it ours."

"And if I say no, what would you guys do? Live in the streets?"

"To be honest, we didn't think about that because we both have a feeling that you'll accept our request. I mean, you do enjoy our presence when we are in our snake form."

Ryoma consider his options and finally agreed, "Alright, you can stay here if you're willing to eat snake food and live under my bed."

Seiichi nodded, "Of course."

"Umm... Ryoma? Do you perhaps have any clothes that matches our size?" Syusuke said for the first time after being ignored by the duo.

Ryoma turned to Syusuke and immediately regreted his decision, "Argh! Why aren't you wearing anything?! Cover yourself!" Syusuke was now in his human form and currently, he was naked, which caused Ryoma to turn away from him. Seiichi on the other hand, weren't fazed by Syusuke's naked form since they were friends when they're babies, so it was natural that they already seen each other naked.

Syusuke chuckled, "Why so shy, Ryoma? I don't have anything that you don't have."

Ryoma blushed, "Urusai!"

And so the teasing continues... and Syusuke still didn't bother wearing any clothes.


	5. Chapter 5

Sorry guys for taking so long with this chapter. Can't believe that at least two months had passed since I last updated. And lastly, please do review everyone! It really motivates me to update faster! While I do appreciate favs/follows, reviews are the main fuel for me to write faster. And yes, I know that this chapter is super short, but I want to post this to tell y'all that yes, I'm alive. I promise the following chapters will have at least 3k words.

Guest: Thanks for being so understanding! ^.^

Warning: This chapter haven't been edited (by me) so pardon the mistakes.

* * *

Ryoma tip-toed downstairs after making sure to close the door behind him. He let out a sigh of relief once the coast was clear; luckily, his parents for some reason, weren't home at the moment, so Ryoma was free to walk around without having the free that his parents will catch him. Well, it wasn't like Ryoma was doing anything bad, in fact, the opposite holds true. Since he will be feeding the two demon snakes upstairs, that does counts as doing a good deed, right?

The reason behind him acting careful was because Ryoma definitely doesn't want to explain to his parents just why he was bringing food for two people instead of food for one. Alright, it was definitely true that Ryoma had a bottomless-pit as a stomach, but that was only when his best friend Momo treats him, or it was during a grand feast or something. Other than that, Ryoma only consume a normal amount of food for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. He does not have a big appetite, thank you very much.

But still, Ryoma shouldn't stay downstairs for too long since who knows when his parents will be home. And so, he quickly opened the refrigerator and seach for food. Ryoma couldn't possibly give the demons his food - and there wasn't extra _cooked_ food around - so Ryoma must cook food. Even though he never tried cooking - heck, he never even touched cooking utensils and whatnot once in his life - Ryoma have a good feeling that everything will work out in the end. He does have a talent to master things within a short span of time, after all. But of course, even talented amateurs has a limit, so he wouldn't dare to cook something that takes a lot of effort and time.

He decided to go with something simple: toast and fry egg. For the toast, just place it in a the toaster, set a timer, and that's it. For the egg, all he needs to do was to crack it into a pan, wait for a minute, and then it's done.

Ryoma nodded as he came to a final decision, and with that he set to work.

As he dumped the toasts inside the machine, he set the toaster to three minutes since the longer it takes, the more crispier the toast will be. Next, he take out few eggs and placed them on the counter. He cracked the first egg with a lot of force and the content spilled everywhere, including Ryoma's face and shirt.

"What the hell..." Okay, too much force wasn't needed. So then, he should use a small amount of force. Well, they say that cooking is science, so this is an experiment to Ryoma.

He gently tapped the egg against the side of the counter and that only leaves a slight crack on the egg. Okay, now that was too gentle.

He then tapped it with a little more force and this time, the crack increases in size. Ryoma places his thumbs on the crack as he separates the shell from the content.

"Well, at least I successfully cracked an egg for the first time in my life..." He dumped the shell into the trash can.

After placing the pan on top of the flames and pouring the oil in, Ryoma decided that it was time to pour the stirred eggs into the pan. The pan sizzled and the rising heat came into contact with Ryoma's hand. The eggs starts to form bubbles, and after it had calmed down, Ryoma used a pair of chopsticks to flip the eggs over. And after a while, the eggs are fully cooked. He turned off the fire and poured the eggs onto a plate.

He then walked over to the toaster and raised his eyebrows when the supposedly white brown toast became crisp black on the edge and somewhat toward the center.

Is this even edible? But still, Ryoma was too lazy to recook it, so he just brought his poorly-cooked breakfast upstairs for his guests.

He opened the door and set the food on the floor. "Eat," he commanded.

"E-Eat this?" Syusuke asked with a finger pointing toward the food.

"Yeah, what else?"

"But... the eggs clearly have shells in them and the toasts are burnt..." Yukimura commented.

"And so? You guys should be grateful that at least I decided to give you food. Now stop complaining or else I'll take the food away," Ryoma threatened and the snakes could only gulp as they stared at the food before reaching for it with shaking hands.

They squeezed their eyes tight and quickly gulped everything down before ending up choking down due to the egg shells.

"Oh my god, I can't believe I actually swallowed it..." Yukimura said as he reached for the glass of water.

"What the hell is wrong with you guys; there's nothing wrong with my food," Ryoma picked up the chopsticks and bit into the egg. "It's a bit crunchy, but there's nothing wrong with it."

"It just taste weird to us. Is this how human food taste like?"

Ryoma felt he needs to punch someone now, "No one's forcing you to eat, so stop sounding like you're being murdered goddamit!"

"Maa maa, Ryoma. The food just tastes weird to us demons; we're definitely not mocking your cooking skills!" Fuji assured.

"That'd better be the case. After you're done eating, we need to go shop for clpothes. You couldn't possibly fit into my clothes, and I definitely don't want to explain to oyaji just why he was missing some clothes, so that is our only option. Got it?" The demons nodded.


End file.
